How far can the following fighters go? Guys who have showed talent just always something seems to derail it or they just haven't been far along enough yet in their career. No debate here, just want honest opinions on what you think they could achieve.
Abel Trujillo
Daren Cruikshank
KJ Noons
Michael Chiesa
Brandon Thatch
Erik Silva
Glover Teixeira
Meat head mittrione
Hapa 
Cruikshank and Chiesa I could see becoming contenders maybe. Hapa if he improves could make it. I won't comment on the rest cuz I'd hate to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. 
The Last Donut - Cruikshank and Chiesa I could see becoming contenders maybe. Hapa if he improves could make it. I won't comment on the rest cuz I'd hate to pull their chestnuts out of the fire.Legit legit, we're all entitled to our opinions.
Trujillo is good. Almost too tough for his own good though, he tends to get sloppy with his striking and wants to brawl which occasionally backfires. Still has potential and his career is on the upswing. Give him another 2 years and he could be a monster.
Cruikshank is a fantastic striker and his wrestling is pretty decent. He could be top 5 at some point but hes struggled with more seasoned guys with better wrestling and technical boxing. He could be top 5 someday.
Noons, I love to watch him fight and his TDD is great but it seems he will never be a true mixed fighter and that will always be a problem whenever he gets up the rankings.
Chiesa is good on the feet, uses his range well and has a great ground game. I think he could give a lot of guys problems. I think he would benefit from a more varied arsenal of standup attacks. He is also not the most explosive guy when compared to some of the guys at LW but he is very technical with his ground work. Still has plenty of potential.
Thatch, I honestly haven't seen enough fights from to have an informed opinion. The ones I have seen he looks like a destroyer. Exciting style of fight, not many guys use the knee as effectively.
Erik Silva, Seems like one of those limitless potential sort of guys that has some type of mental block that stops him from getting there. I think if he can clear his mind and cleans up his technical striking he will be a tough fight for anybody.
Glover, as much as I love the guy seems to have reached his plateau in the fighting game. Age is starting to catch up with him. Tons of talent and skill but he is going to have a hard time matching speed for speed with the younger hungrier guys.
Mittrione is a badass. As athletic as anybody at heavyweight. Striking is improving, lots of power, fast, light on his feet. The ground game is still the question mark with him, and i've heard he is quite good there but I've yet to witness it. I think despite his age, he could still be a rising star in the division. Seems that nobody is in much of a hurry to push him though. I think all his pro fights were in the UFC IIRC which is pretty impressive if true.
Hapa, is a dangerous beast but I think he still needs some refinement. Lots of potential, we will see how his change of camp works out. Haven't seen much of him on the the ground yet. Wrestling is a concern, but his tdd has been fairly effective so far. He still has the ability to be a contender in the future for sure.
These are just my opinions based on the fights i've seen. I didn't go looking up records or anything so take it for what its worth.
Anyhow
Interesting points being made. Going to enjoy this thread. VUOP
What about these guys?
Brad Tavares
Uriah hall
Josh Copeland
And Norman parke?
I still think Hall has contender potential. If he can string a few wins together and regain the cage presence we saw during TUF I think he could make a good run
Thatch has very good potential. I think his upcoming fight with Wonderboy will be predictive of his plight in the division
Abel Trujillo - don't know, top 15, maybe top 10 at a point.
Daren Cruikshank - Might crack top 10 at some point but I don't see him stringing together long streaks.
KJ Noons - His ceiling is what he has already accomplished, probably a few years ago.
Michael Chiesa - top 15 maybe? don't see him ever contending.
Brandon Thatch - top 5, possible title contender, too early to say.
Erick Silva - About where he has been, might beat a couple of top guys but again will be too inconsistent and hitable.
Glover Teixeira - done IMO, kind of old, seems laid back, and he isn't beating Jones, Davis, Rumble, Cormier, or Gus.
May remain top 10 for a couple of years.
Meat head mittrione - I actually see decent potential in Mittrione for a bit of a run, kind of old though. I could see him cracking top 10 for a bit.
Hapa - Training with Edmond might mess his career hard like it has with others, could be top 5ish, don't see him beating Cain, JDS, Werdum or HUnt.
You need a better metaphor as glass ceiling doesn't apply here. The closest you can get to shoehorning someone in it right now is Askren.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling
Edson barbosa